Intermittent slime floating around DT
 

Last month I posted this issue as I suspected my ATO water was the cause, but now I don't think this is the case
I get slime in my DT, but not my QT, and both have Osmolators supplied from one ATO holding tank

In my DT, every now and then, I see bits of slimy, whitish-clear looking stuff floating around
It kinda looks like broken bits of cellophane or such, waving around as it circulates throughout the tank, and once it goes through the MP10s it gets shredded and eventually disappears

I have numerous lengths of food-grade vinyl hose in the return section of my sump that develop a slimy feel to them, but doesn't this happen to everyone ?

Anyone else have this happen ?
Any suggestions ?

I have a lime green Caulastrea Furcata coral that sometimes makes a clear thin slime that the power-heads blow around; this happens after hermits climb over it, of if I bump it with my hand in the tank....

It's a possibility :)

Like a little ghost floating around the tank ?

Mine isn't stringy looking, but more sheet-like

Certain corals will shuck off their skin, or at least a slime layer as a way to clean off and renew. I have a Blue ridge coral that does it every now and then. That could be what is happening in your tank?

It's not sticky like coral sluffing ...

It just floats around like sheets/pieces until it gets shredded and then goes away

Sometimes it gets stuck on SPS or LR, but it eventually keeps circulating until it disappears

Once you sell your foxface you'll probably never see it again. My best bet is that it's from that fish. I have a magnificent foxface and I see the same stuff your describing come off of him.

HUH ??? Really ?

Are you just messin' with me ?

Well, hopefully you'll be right and I'll never see it again once we sell the fox, but I doubt it

It's too big to come out of the fishes intestinal tract and it looks like some kind of ghost floating around the tank

I wish I could get a pic or vid of it ....

No dude I'm not. And he'll eat it too. I've actually seen it come right off of him.

Hmm ...
I've never seen any kind of slime come off our foxface, or any of our corals for that matter, so I can't say what is going on ...

Thanks for the try Madreefer :smile:

I'm stumped

If I ever get a chance to take a pic of this goo, I hope someone will recognize it :lol:

In the meantime, maybe someone else will pipe up with a similar situation ....

I've said it before ...
This slime looks like a ghost floating around the tank and eventually gets shredded by the pumps

This I can say for sure has never happened ...

Maybe, like you say, this will go away once our fox is sold, but I really doubt it
This is not some kind of nutrient the fish like
None of our fish will eat this goo ....

I hope to report back that this issue is gone once the fox is sold, but I doubt it

It's not small enough to be fish waste, nor coral waste

It's sheets of stuff ....

I've said before, it looks like ghosts in the water, floating around, waving things of a clearish white color, or whitish-clear

I'll do my best to get some pics or vids of it .....

Bio film build up? could be in the hoses.

How much surface agitation do you have? I had a section of my sump where I had nearly no surface movement what so ever. The water flowed so smoothly over the baffles that there was no surface movement and I found I had a slight film develop over it in time. I just assumed it was an accumulation of something, either protein the skimmer didn't get a chance to remove or a byproduct of one of the tanks inhabitants.
All I did was move a piece of equipment that roughed up the flow before a baffle creating some wave action across that section and I've never had it again.

+1 my foxface does that too

From Reef Central
"The fish is definitely shedding its cuticle...nothing to worry about. it's not really a mucous layer, but more akin to a reptile's skin, altho not "quite". Lionfish and other Scorpioniformes do this on a regular basis, and it's one of the reasons these fish are disease-resistant.

Here's a vid showing our volitans molting:

LIONFISH SHEDDING CUTICLE "

cont...
I had my local genius at the fish store tell me it was the mucous layer shedding. He said that venomous fish do this to restore their defenses."


Hope that helps,

Yep it's the foxface, when the fish gets to be 9" long, the sheets of it are huge and get tangled up in the corals

Huh ... there's my Friday 'you learn something new everyday' intake

OK then, you've convinced me and I'll start watching the fox more closely

Thanks for the help everyone

Sorry I doubted you Madreefer :wink:

Update ...

Thanks again everyone for your input
Since the Fox sold I haven't seen any more slime
I haven't been watching the tank as much lately, but so far so good :smile: